V For Vendetta has been broadcast in China - despite the plot revolving around a totalitarian government.

The film, which didn't air on the big-screen when it was released, was shown on TV, raising hopes that the country is loosening censorship.

Television audiences across China watched an anarchist anti-hero rebel against a totalitarian government and persuade the people to rule themselves.

Soon the internet was crackling with quotes from V For Vendetta's famous line: "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."

The 2005 movie, based on a comic book, is set in an imagined future Britain with a fascist government. The protagonist wears a mask of Guy Fawkes, the 17th-century rebel who tried to blow up Parliament.

The mask has become a revolutionary symbol for young protesters in mostly Western countries, and it also has a cult-like status in China as pirated DVDs are widely available. Some people have used the image of the mask as their profile pictures on Chinese social media sites.

Beijing-based rights activist Hu Jia wrote on Twitter, which is not accessible to most Chinese because of government Internet controls: "This great film couldn't be any more appropriate for our current situation.